


A King's Ransom

by AcesOfSpade



Category: Avengers Academy (Video Game), Marvel
Genre: Angst, Gen, Homophobia, Loki Needs a Hug, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Thor Is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-16
Packaged: 2018-11-13 11:45:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11184426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcesOfSpade/pseuds/AcesOfSpade
Summary: We all know that Loki has written letters to Thor, Black Widow, and Union Jack that he hasn't delivered. We also know that Loki is very closed-off and doesn't deal with emotions well.This is what happens when someone confronts Loki about the letters, putting him in an awful position with his peers. It seems there are few on his side in this fight, but at least he has his mother.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Timelines? What timelines, lol? I don't even care about the order of how the characters were introduced. I don't even care if I have the ones I'm writing for or not. I'm just going to use whichever ones I need for the plot. This is the first thing I've posted in _months_ so it'll be choppy.
> 
> Also, this is darker and more homophobic than a lot of my other stuff. I'm going to do my best with it, but there's still things I'm uncomfortable with writing in terms of homophobia (such as the f-slur). Wish me luck.

“Mother?” came an unusually quiet voice from outside the door of the All-Mother’s chambers at Avengers Academy, followed by a shuffling of feet and what sounded like the tapping of a staff on the floor nervously.

 

“Come in, my dear Loki,” Frigga called out, looking up from her knitting project with a frown as her youngest son entered the room. She was struck by the way he looked, defeated physically and emotionally. This wasn’t like him, and it made Frigga worry so much she got up and quickly made her way over to him to brush some dirt off his face. “Loki, who has done this to you?” she asked gently.

 

“I tripped in the park,” Loki attempted to lie, looking anywhere but at his mother. While Loki was the god of lies, he could never find it in him to truly lie to his mother. He cared for her too greatly for that.

 

“You know that’s not true. You would not have come to me if you simply tripped,” Frigga reminded him, motioning for him to come sit with her on the couch she had in the corner. “Now, who did this to you?”

 

Taking a deep breath, Loki looked down at his hands folded in his lap. “Black Panther,” he muttered, shame laced in his voice. He’d been bested by a Midgardian of all people. Even if T’Challa was a king and a warrior, Loki was a god. He should’ve won, but his mind was clouded with the words T’Challa had been saying.

 

“Why would the Wakandan king do such a thing?” Frigga frowned, tilting Loki’s chin so he was looking at her.

 

This conversation was exactly why he contemplated coming to his mother in the first place. He knew he needed her advice, but he also didn’t want to have _this_ part of the conversation. He’d had hundreds of years to do this before, but he was always scared to do it for one reason or another. It was inevitable now.

 

“He… he found something very personal in my dorm room, and decided to taunt me over the contents,” Loki told her, biting his lip. “He threatened to show them to the other students, as childish as it would be for someone of his position, and I let my anger cloud my actions. I started the fight, but he evidently ended it.” There. He told the truth. But he knew Frigga would press, and he’d have to come clean really soon.

 

“What did he find?” Frigga asked, frowning ever-so-slightly. Loki was never like this, so it must’ve been something very important to him for its discovery to evoke such an emotional response.

 

“A box of letters,” Loki mumbled. “Organized by recipient. Three recipients in total, though the number of letters varied. One set was ignored, one I was teased about, and the third was the set he threatened to spread around the campus.”

 

“Who were they addressed to?” Frigga pressed. She needed to how important these letters were exactly, though she had an idea.

 

“The set of three letters I wrote to my brother were mostly ignored,” Loki began. “The set of seven for Black Widow was scoffed at. However, the last set, containing roughly two dozen letters, were targeted maliciously,” he answered, trying to distract his mother from asking who he may have written so many valuable letters to.

 

“Two dozen?” Frigga blinked. “The person the letters were intended for must be quite a deal to you,” she mused. “But why would that be a bad thing? You are capable of feeling, my dear. T’Challa should realize that. Was it a girl you fancy? Teenagers and young adults get rather vicious about those kinds of things nowadays.”

 

“Not… exactly,” Loki said, biting his lip and looking away from his mother once more. “They were addressed to Union Jack,” he stated, voice barely above a whisper.

 

Frigga’s eyes narrowed slightly for a moment before realization dawned on her. She sighed softly, an almost sad look in her eyes. “Loki, dearest child, why do you sound shameful? There is nothing wrong with writing such letters for another man. T’Challa is simply from a less… accepting area of Midgard. He simply has not yet learned to accept those which he does not understand.”

 

Loki blinked in surprise, not expecting the answer he received. “Midgardians do not seem to be very accepting of those with the same… predilections as myself, least of all the King of Wakanda, it seems. He wishes to use the letters as evidence towards my expulsion, for whatever reason. For once, I am at a loss as to what I should do. If I confront him, I will continue to be the villain the others see me as. If I do not, he will use the letters against me, potentially ruining the only friendship I have ever truly had.”

 

Frigga’s shoulders fell at her son’s words, pulling him in for a hug. At first startled, Loki returned the hug. “What do I do, Mother?” he muttered into her shoulder. He sounded like a scared little kid, and that was what let Frigga know he was truly uncertain. Loki was a confident boy; he very rarely sounded that way.

 

“I will speak with King T’Challa about his decisions, and if that does not work, I am sure your brother would enjoy giving him an earful about being a decent person,” Frigga said gently as she pulled out of the hug.

 

“That will only make matters worse,” Loki told her.

 

“Then you speak to him. Royal to royal,” Frigga suggested. “Be the diplomat I taught you to be. Show him you will not take no for an answer. Maybe then he will listen.”

 

“I will try, Mother,” Loki nodded, pulling away and standing up. “For now, I have to go. There is a chemistry test tomorrow, and you know how Professor Pym is about tests.”

 

“Of course, my dear,” Frigga nodded, kissing his cheek before he got up. “I do hope all ends well.”


	2. Chapter 2

As Loki made his way back out on the campus grounds, he felt as if there were eyes on him, staring at him judgmentally. Whenever he chanced a quick glance at his surroundings, there was nothing suspicious, but the paranoia in the back of his mind was there. He managed to make it back to the Maverick dorm without incident, deciding he needed a shower to get the dirt and blood off of him. He grabbed a towel and a change of clothes from his room, tucking his staff away in the closet and heading for the showers.

 

It wasn’t until after Loki stepped under the spray of cold water that he heard the door to the shower room creak open, followed by shuffling feet and a bag of some sort hitting the ground. Loki peeked over the top of the shower stall’s door to see who had come in, turning a blueish gray sort of colour in his cheeks.

 

_Dammit_ , he thought. _It had to be him_.

 

Fate seemed to not be on Loki’s side that day, as Union Jack had also wandered in to take a shower. Loki caught sight of dirt smeared on his face, blood dried onto the skin by his mouth, and grass stuck in his hair. Loki didn’t like the looks of it, but he didn’t say anything, as it might make the situation awkward. He simply went back to scrubbing the dirt off his own body, trying not to let his fantasies get the best of him in regards to the man in the next stall over.

 

Union Jack was still in the shower when Loki finished, so he took a few extra moments to dry off before getting dressed. Once dressed, his quickly headed back to his dorm, locking the door behind him so he could think about what to do with T’Challa. His mind kept wandering, however, distracted by thoughts of working up the nerve to just deliver the damn letters already. Maybe if he did that, the torture would be less severe. The thought was dashed though, as Loki didn’t think he was quite ready for that.

 

Eventually, Loki gave up on thinking and left his dorm to get something to eat. As he walked to the club, he pretended everything was fine and that he wasn’t tearing himself apart on the inside because of some silly Midgardian. Of course, as his bad luck would have it, Union Jack happened to be standing at the bar, evidently trying what’s local. Loki cursed to himself, moving to turn away when he heard his name being called out.

 

“Hey Loki!” Union Jack called out, evidently pleased to see the god. “You look miserable, mate,” he observed thoughtfully, brows creasing slightly. “Enchantress get to you again?”

 

Loki turned back to face the spy, shrugging minimally. “Not really,” he admitted. He found it hard to lie to Union Jack, though he was known to do it when needed. “Just a bad day.”

 

“Want to talk about it?” Union Jack asked, motioning for Loki to come stand with him at the bar.

 

“It is really nothing,” Loki tried to say, looking away from Union Jack as he spoke.

 

“I don’t believe you,” Union Jack stated. He usually didn’t press Loki for information, but when his friend looked this absolutely miserable, he wanted to know why.

 

Loki sighed quietly, finally going over to the bar. “I am being blackmailed,” he admitted softly, looking down at his hands. “One of the other students has acquired very personal items of mine and is threatening to bring them to Fury for some insane reason.”

 

“Which student?” Union Jack asked with narrowed eyes, a sudden flare of protective anger bubbling in his chest. “I’ll gladly talk to them for you.”

 

“I am not sure that would be such a great idea,” Loki said quickly, against his better judgment. “The situation would escalate quickly if you did that.”

 

“If you’re sure,” Union Jack shrugged, knowing there was no use in fighting Loki on something like this. He was too stubborn for that. “Anyway, I was wondering if you’d like to spar later?” he asked, almost sounding hopeful. “Been a while since I’ve had some real competition in the arena, that’s for sure. Cap’s been off on missions with his buddies, and Widow’s too busy trying to spy on Fury to actually train.”

 

“I’d be glad to help you train,” Loki nodded. “Though I hope you plan to lose,” he smirked.

 

“You’re on,” Union Jack grinned, pushing away from the bar. “Meet me at the arena in ten, and prepare for one heck of a fight.”

 

With that, he headed back for the dorms. Loki had to force himself to not glance over at Union Jack as he made his way over as well.

 

Ten minutes later, Loki was standing in the Arena of War, for once not dressed elegantly. He wore a simple pair of black pants and a green shirt, as to not get his usual attire dirty while they fought. Union Jack appeared shortly after Loki arrived, dressed in his usual workout clothes.

 

“Ready?” Union Jack smirked, cracking his knuckles.

 

“Of course,” Loki smirked.

 

The sparring session lasted well over an hour, both men putting everything they had into it. Of course, Loki kept getting distracted by Union Jack, which ended up meaning he lost. With his back pressed against the stone floor of the arena, Loki looked Union Jack dead in the eyes. Union Jack had an arm pressed across Loki’s chest to hold him down, his other hand propping himself up from beside Loki’s ear. Loki was doing his best to keep his breathing under control, though he could at least lie his way out of that by saying it was adrenaline.

 

The longer Loki stayed pinned down, the more his eyes drifted towards Union Jack’s slightly parted lips. He had to screw his eyes shut to keep himself from looking, but that just made Union Jack chuckle.

 

“What’s the matter, mate?” he chuckled. “Can’t look at my handsome face for too long?” he teased. Loki spluttered, trying to deny the accusation. Union Jack chuckled at his reaction, finally pushing himself back up to his feet and offering Loki a hand to help get up.

 

“You fight better than my brother,” Loki hummed, brushing some of the dirt off his pants and shirt in an attempt to distract himself.

 

“I do, eh?” Union Jack grinned. “Thanks, mate. You aren’t too bad a fighter yourself. Just gotta learn to pay attention to your own moves,” he commented idly, grabbing a towel and draping it around his neck. “Try again tomorrow?” he asked, to which Loki nodded.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Big Brother Thor to the rescue!

It had been three days since Loki’s confrontation with T’Challa, and the god in question was still avoiding the Wakandan king. He felt like a coward for doing so, but he didn’t know what to say that would make T’Challa back off. He was never in these kinds of situations, where he was the one being blackmailed, so he was at a loss. He was the one doing the blackmailing, not the other way around. It was frustrating him to no end, which resulted in more rude behaviour than usual. He snapped at Taskmaster for bumping into him, though the man in question seemed unfazed by the outburst.

 

Finally, after nearly four days, Loki confronted T’Challa. He cornered the king by the Wakandan embassy, using his staff to hold T’Challa in place as he spoke.

 

“I would recommend you forget about those letters,” Loki said darkly. “You know I am powerful, more powerful than the Enchantress, and I am unafraid to use my powers on Midgardians.”

 

“I am not afraid of you,” T’Challa scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You are, however, rather slow to confront me properly. Agent 13 has received knowledge of the letters, as has Director Fury,” the man smirked. “I believe you should begin packing. Once the rest of the students are informed, you are bound to be removed from the student body.”

 

Loki growled. An actual, angry growl. He shoved T’Challa backwards before turning to leave. He cast one quick spell over his shoulder to turn T’Challa into a rat for a few hours as he walked away.

 

By the end of the day, Loki refused to leave his dorm room. Wasp had come looking for him so they could ‘talk’, but Loki sent her away. He knew she was going to judge him, and while that sort of thing usually didn’t upset him, this situation was entirely different. Loki despised actually talking about his feelings, but he knew it was inevitable one of these days.

 

As if to prove his point, Loki heard a strong knock on the door that could only belong to his dear brother, Thor. Begrudgingly, Loki called out to say he could come in, flopping down onto his bed with a sigh.

 

“Brother, are you quite alright?” Thor asked once he was in the room with the door closed. “You are never like this. Has someone wronged you? Or is it abut the letters?”

 

“So everyone knows?” Loki muttered, sitting up again.

 

“It would seem so. Once Wasp got hold of the information, it spread quickly,” Thor told him apologetically. “Why are you ashamed, Loki?” he asked softly, moving to sit next to his brother on the bed. “There is no reason to be ashamed of the letters. I know how hard it is to express such emotions verbally, though your situation does differ from my own. Just know, I do not see you any differently. You are still my brother, regardless of your romantic preferences.”

 

Loki couldn’t help the light blush creeping up his neck and into his cheeks at Thor’s words. That’s how out of whack this experience had sent him; he was _blushing_.

 

“Thank you, Thor. It does mean a lot,” Loki admitted softly. “Though I take it the majority of the students think otherwise?”

 

“Indeed,” Thor nodded. “Though it seems there is a divide. A portion of the students are coming to your defense, while the others are fighting for your expulsion on the grounds of you being a predator, both physically and sexually.” It sounded as if Thor was disgusted by having to say those words. While he and Loki didn’t always get along, they were still brothers, and family was everything to Thor.

 

Honestly, Loki could’ve actually cried right then. Ever since coming to the Academy, he’d done his best to prove he was no longer a villain or a threat. Now, because someone had wrongfully gone through his personal belongings, he was being painted as a villain once more. He began to wonder how different things would’ve been if he hadn’t written the letters in the first place.

 

Thor saw how miserable Loki looked, and pulled him in for one of their rare hugs. Loki just leaned against his brother’s shoulder as he was hugged, closing his eyes in an attempt to clear his mind.

 

“Which students are defending me?” he asked after a few minutes. Maybe he had friends? At least, that was what he hoped.

 

“Union Jack seems to be the leader of the opposition, so to speak,” Thor stated. “Wasp, Black Widow, Captain America, Winter Soldier, Falcon, Singularity, Taskmaster, Jane, Ms America, Wiccan, Hulkling, Stature, and myself have been rallied into joining Union Jack in his protest, while the rest of the students are against your staying here.”

 

Loki blinked in surprise. That many students were advocating for him? He expected Black Widow and Wasp, but the rest caught him off guard. He must’ve made some sort of surprised noise, because Thor patted his head gently.

 

“There are many people who care about you, Loki,” Thor assured him. “As for those who are against you, they were never your friends. They most likely used you for your magic and immortality, pretending to tolerate you. I assure you, that is not the case for myself and the others fighting for you.”

 

“Who has taken charge of the expulsion side?” Loki asked, figuring he knew the answer already.

 

“Black Panther,” Thor told him.

 

“I figured as much. He started this in the first place,” Loki sighed.

 

“We will get through this, brother,” Thor promised him, squeezing his shoulder. “Now, how about we go see Mother?” he suggested lightly. “She told me she is making cookies,” he grinned.

 

Loki perked up at that, actually smiling slightly. “I do love her cookies...” he muttered, getting up when Thor did to head to the teachers’ dorms.


End file.
